This invention deals with the removal of dissolved gas from liquids. It is especially intended for use in removing dissolved oxygen from water or from other liquids.
It is necessary to remove substantially all dissolved oxygen from water used in a polymerization process. Also, it is desirable to remove dissolved oxygen from liquids used in the food industry, such as vegetable oils and other liquids. Dissolved oxygen will react with other substances, and therefore tends to reduce the shelf life of foods.
It has been known to remove dissolved oxygen from a liquid by bubbling a relatively inert gas, such as nitrogen, into the liquid. The size and flow rate of the bubbles determines the efficiency and rate of gas removal. The disadvantage of the latter method is that the effective area of contact between the gas and the liquid is relatively low, so that the degassing process is not very efficient. Also, the gas bubbles tend to clump together, further reducing the effective contact area between the gas and the liquid, and reducing the efficiency of the process.
The present invention provides a simple, economical, and efficient means of removing dissolved gas from a liquid. The invention enables one to remove virtually all the dissolved gas from the liquid, or to adjust the amount of dissolved gas to an acceptable level.